Balfour Beatty has reported a 14 per cent rise in pre-tax profit for the first half of the year - an adjusted pre-tax profit of £108 million for the six months to 27 June 2009 compared with £95 million last year. The results were strengthened by growth in the company’s US operations and a strong UK civils market.
The first half of 2009 saw a further period of growth for the Group, underpinned by continued infrastructure expenditure and the benefit of acquisitions. Balfour’s order book was £12.5 billion at the period end.
Balfour Beatty chief executive Ian Tyler said:
“We have made good progress in growing our business presence in the US, based on the principles which have made our UK business so successful.
“Our strong first half performance, together with the visibility provided by our significant order book of high-quality work, underpins our confidence in the prospects of the group and we anticipate making good progress in 2009.”
The company said its goal of delivering consistent, long-term growth to shareholders would be achieved by striving to remain, or to become, the leading provider of high-quality infrastructure in each of its key markets.Balfour Beatty’s core skills are focused in three areas which span the infrastructure project life cycle: professional services, engineering and construction services.
The company said that customers were increasingly seeking to partner with a small number of trusted suppliers to eliminate unnecessary interfaces which accentuated both risk and cost. A proven capability to integrate professional and support services, engineering and construction, and investment skills was a key differentiator for customers and was generating a growing range of large-scale opportunities.
Balfour Beatty’s long-term aim is to continue to move towards a business model where its activities in the US have the same scale and depth as the UK.
Revenue including joint ventures and associates1 was up 17% at £5,072 million from £4,332 million in 2008. Profit from operations² in the building sector increased by 39%, in the engineering sector by 5% and in the investments sector by 86%, while profits in the rail sector decreased by £2 million.
In the water sector, the company said that, as anticipated, volumes were down in Balfour Beatty Utility Solutions, as its UK customers reduced spend at the end of the regulatory cycle. The company is anticipating increased orders in the second half of 2009 and in early 2010 ahead of AMP5, the asset management plan period which will run from 2010 to 2015.
Balfour Beatty also announced that it has been selected as an alliance partner for the delivery of South West Water’s capital programme for a five-year period commencing April 2010.